Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz cuts the cake with Nepal Ambassador Udaya Raj Pandey to mark the National Day celebration.

Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz greeted Nepalese expatriates across the Kingdom in celebration of the country’s first National Day at Tuwaiq Palace in the Saudi capital. Udaya Raj Pandey Nepalese Ambassador hosted a grand reception attended by several Saudi officials and foreign diplomats including Prince Turki as the chief guest on the occasion.

The National Day, being celebrated for the first time after the fall of the 240-year-old monarchy in Nepal, was also attended by a large number of Nepalese expatriates. The celebrations started with the recitation of the national anthems of the two nations.
Pandey, who was conferred the prestigious honor of “Suprabal Jana Seva Shri” by the Nepal government recently, said that his country has decided to celebrate the National Day as an annual event from this year onwards.

Speaking after the Republic Day celebrations here Sunday, Pandey reiterated the “progressively growing” relations between Saudi Arabia and Nepal. He said that the two countries have been enjoying very “cordial relations” since the inception of their diplomatic relations on March 15, 1977. Nepal opened its embassy in Saudi Arabia in 1978, he added.

Asked about the National Day being observed for the first time in Saudi Arabia, he said that the Nepalese government has decided to observe May 28 of each year as the National Day, ending years of confusion over the issue since the country turned into a republic in 2008. On May 28, 2008, the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a federal republic, he added. Before that, Nepal used to mark the king’s birthday as a national day.